The present invention relates to an apparatus for distributing liquid such as a blood sample among a plurality of test tubes and for dividing the test tubes containing the small quantities of the liquid into groups, so that these groups will be transported to devices for analyzing the liquid for different items.
In order to analyze a blood sample for checking different items, it is necessary to distribute the sample, in small quantities, among a plurality of test tubes. When the blood sample is distributed by handwork, it is possibly contaminated. To eliminate or reduce this possibility of contamination, attempts have been made to provide an apparatus for automatically distributing a blood sample among a plurality of test tubes. Such an apparatus should meet various requirements. First, it must smoothly bring empty tubes to the position where the sample is distributed among these tubes. Secondly, it must distribute the sample among as many test tubes as possible within as short a time as possible. Thirdly, it must make it easy for the operator to identify the blood. Fourthly, it must easily and reliably divide the tubes containing small quantities of the sample into groups.